• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.27-40
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• 2022

Yellow head virus (YHV), Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis (IHHNV), Taura syndrome virus (TSV), and Infectious myositis virus (IMNV) cause serious mortality to Penaeidae shrimp in the aquaculture. In this study, YHV, IHHNV, TSV, and IMNV were surveyed from imported frozen shrimps between 2019 and 2020 via molecular diagnostic assay. Among 10 shrimp groups, YHV (n=1) and IHHNV (n=4) were detected by RT-PCR and PCR, respectively. From the phylogenetic analysis based on the partial ORF 1b region of YHV, YHV was classified into YHV genotype 3 (YHV3). And IHHNVs (n=2) detected from Litopenaeus vannamei belong to infectious IHHNV type 2. Although IHHNVs (n=2) identified from Penaeus monodon showed PCR positive results (MG 831F/R primer set), the sequences of ORF 2 and 3 were not amplified, suggesting that those samples might possess type A IHHNV related sequence of P. monodon. Furthermore, in the challenge test, even though PCR-detected isolates (YHV3/type A IHHNV related sequence or infectious IHHNV type 2) were not induced mortality to L. vannamei, viral genes were amplified suggesting that the viruses in the frozen shrimp could be non-pathogenic particles which are not enough to induce mortality.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.1126-1133
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• 2002

Purpose : Prader-Willi syndrome(PWS) is a complex disorder affecting multisystems with characteristic clinical features. Its genetic basis is an expression defect in the paternally derived chromosome 15q11-q13. We analyzed the clinical features and genetic basis of PWS patients for early detection and treatment. Methods : We retrospectively studied 24 patients with PWS in Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, from September 1997 to September 2001. We performed cytogenetic and molecular genetic techniques using high resolution GTG banding techniques, fluorescent in situ hybridization and methylation-specific PCR for CpG island of SNRPN gene region. Results : The average birth weight of PWS patients was $2.67{\pm}0.47kg$ and median age at diagnosis was 1.3 years. The average height and weight of PWS patients under one year at diagnostic time were located in a 3-10 percentile relatively, and a rapid weight gain was seen between two and six years. Feeding problems in infancy and neonatal hypotonia were the two most consistently positive major criteria in over 95% of the patients. In 18 of the 24 cases(75%), deletion of chromosome 15q11-q13 was demonstrated and one case among 18 had an unbalanced 14;15 translocation. In four cases without any cytogenetic abnormality, it may be considered as maternal uniparental disomy and the rest showed another findings. Conclusion : We suggest diagnostic testing for PWS in all infants/neonates with unexplained feeding problems and hypotonia. It is necessary for clinically suspicious patients to undergo an early genetic test. As the genetic basis of PWS was heterogenous and complex, further study is required.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.523-532
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• 1999

Background: With the development of the molecular biological methods, studies of the early diagnosis of lung cancer and the detection in the preneoplastic state by using genetic probes in the high risk groups are widely investigated. In lung cancer, squamous cell carcinoma is considered to progress from the normal bronchial mucosa to the preneoplastic state, and finally to the invasive carcinoma. In this study, we investigated the expression of p53 and c-erbB2 in the normal bronchi and the cancer tissues in patients with squamous cell lung cancer to evaluate the possibility of using these immunohistochemical markers as the diagnostic and prognostic parameters of patients with squamous cell lung cancer. Method: The normal and cancerous bronchial tissues of 25 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, surgically resected from May 1995 to November 1996, were immunohistochemically stained with the monoclonal antibodies to p53(DAKO-p53) and c-erbB2(phamingen 15821A) respectively. We compared the expression status of these markers between the normal bronchial mucosa and the tumor tissue, and also investigated the relationship between the expression status of these markers in tumor tissues and the pathological stage, and the survival time. Results: The pathological stage was as follows; stage I, II were found in 5 patients respectively, stage IIIA was in 8 patients, stage IIIB was in 4 patients, and stage IV was in 3 patients. The expression rate of p53 in the squamous cell lung cancer was 48%, and it was not expressed in the normal bronchial mucosa. The expression status was increased as the pathological stage advanced(p=0.0091 by test of trend). But there were no relationship between the expression of p53 and the median survival time. C-erbB2 did not yield a significantly meaningful result. Conclusion: p53 was not found in the normal bronchial mucosa, but it was expressed in 48% of the tumor tissue. And the expression rate increased as the pathological stage advanced. So it would be helpful to apply the immunochistochemical stain with p53 in the bronchial biopsy specimen in the early diagnosis trial or staging of squamous cell lung cancer.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.196-203
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• 2014

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the most important growth factors for metastatic tumors. To clarify the role of VEGF-A and C in patients with peptic ulcer disease (PUD) or gastric cancer (GC), we evaluated the expression levels of these two molecules. We also analyzed the effect of Helicobacter pylori infection on VEGF-A and C expression levels. Materials and Methods: Patients with dyspepsia who needed diagnostic endoscopy were selected and divided into three groups: nonulcer dyspepsia (NUD), PUD, and GC, according to their endoscopic and histopathological results. Fifty-two patients with NUD, 50 with PUD, and 38 with GC were enrolled in this study. H. pylori infection was diagnosed by the rapid urease test. After RNA extraction and synthesis of cDNA, the expression levels of VEGF-A and C were determined by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Results: The VEGF-C expression level in the PUD and GC groups was significantly higher than that in the NUD group. Moreover, the VEGF-A expression level in the PUD and GC groups was higher than in the NUD group, although the differences were not statistically significant. Significant positive correlations were also observed between the expression levels of these two molecules in the PUD and GC groups. In addition, the expression levels of these two molecules were higher in H. pylori positive patients with PUD or GC than in H. pylori negative patients of the same groups; however, these differences did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Up-regulation of VEGF-C expression during gastric mucosal inflammation may play a role in the development of peptic ulcers or GC.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.169-176
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• 2011

Phytophthora katsurae is the fungus responsible for chestnut ink disease. The objectives of this study were to determine if a single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of rDNA-ITS region, elongation factor 1 alpha gene and ${\beta}$-tubulin gene could be used for rapid identification and genetic diversity of P. katsurae, and to assess the potential use of the SSCP technique as a diagnostic tool for P. katsurae. Each regions amplified by PCR using primers designed to overlap the genus Phytophthora were characterized for the Phytophthora species. PCR products were denatured and electrophoresed for SSCP analysis. P. katsurae isolates showed an unique pattern in SSCP analysis and were easily distinguished from other Phytophthora species used as the control. This indicates that SSCP analysis is an useful technique for distinguishing Phytophthora species from genetically close relatives, and show that the SSCP analysis of each region is an efficient detection tool for P. katsurae. But PCR-SSCP analysis of single-gene may have difficulty in distinguishing P. katsurae from other Phytophthora species. Therefore, PCR-SSCP analysis of multi-genes can be useful for rapid and effective identification of P. katsurae.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.221-229
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• 2016

Purpose: Dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) can contribute to cancer development by leading to abnormal proliferation of cells, apoptosis, and differentiation. Although several miRNAs that are related to gastric cancer have been identified, the reported results have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to determine miRNA expression profiles and validate miRNAs up- and down-regulated in gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 34 primary gastric cancer tissues and paired adjacent nontumorous gastric tissues. Total RNA was extracted, and low-molecular-weight RNAs (<200 nucleotides) were isolated for further analysis. Two pairs of tissues were processed for GeneChip microarray analysis, and the identified up- and down-regulated miRNAs were validated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results: In the set of differentially expressed miRNAs, 5 were overexpressed by more than 2 fold, and 5 were reduced by 2 fold or less in gastric cancer tissues compared with normal gastric tissues. Four of these miRNAs (miR-196b-5p, miR-375, miR-483-5p, and miR-486-5p) were then validated by qPCR, and the relative expression levels of 2 miRNAs (miR-196b-5p and miR-375) were significantly different between cancer and normal tissues. Conclusions: Our results revealed that the expression of miR-196b-5p and miR-375 significantly correlates with gastric cancer. These miRNAs could therefore serve as diagnostic biomarkers of gastric cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6397-6403
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• 2014

Background: Aberrant promoter hypermethylation has been recognized in human breast carcinogenesis as a frequent molecular alteration associated with the loss of expression of a number of key regulatory genes and may serve as a biomarker. The E-cadherin gene (CDH1), mapping at chromosome 16q22, is an intercellular adhesion molecule in epithelial cells, which plays an important role in establishing and maintaining intercellular connections. The aim of our study was to assess the methylation pattern of CDH1 and to correlate it with the expression of E-cadherin, clinicopathological parameters and hormone receptor status in breast cancer patients of Kashmir. Materials and Methods: Methylation specific PCR (MSP) was used to determine the methylation status of CDH1 in 128 invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs) paired with the corresponding normal tissue samples. Immunohistochemistry was used to study the expression of E-cadherin, ER and PR. Results: CDH1 hypermethylation was detected in 57.8% of cases and 14.8% of normal adjacent controls. Reduced levels of E-cadherin protein were observed in 71.9% of our samples. Loss of E-cadherin expression was significantly associated with the CDH1 promoter region methylation (p<0.05, OR=3.48, CI: 1.55-7.79). Hypermethylation of CDH1 was significantly associated with age at diagnosis (p=0.030), tumor size (p=0.008), tumor grade (p=0.024) and rate of node positivity or metastasis (p=0.043). Conclusions: Our preliminary findings suggest that abnormal CDH1 methylation occurs in high frequencies in infiltrating breast cancers associated with a decrease in E-cadherin expression. We found significant differences in tumor-related CDH1 gene methylation patterns relevant to tumor grade, tumor size, nodal involvement and age at diagnosis of breast tumors, which could be extended in future to provide diagnostic and prognostic information.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5449-5454
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• 2014

Although genetic characteristics are considered to be a factor influencing the geographic variation in the prevalence of gallbladder cancer (GBC), they have not been well studied in Bolivia, which has a high prevalence rate of GBC. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of TP53 and K-ras mutations in Bolivian patients with GBC and to compare them with our previous data obtained in other high-GBC-prevalence countries, namely Japan, Chile, and Hungary. DNA was extracted from cancer sites in paraffin-embedded tissue from 36 patients using a microdissection technique. TP53 mutations at exons 5 to 8 and K-ras mutations at codons 12, 13 and 61 were examined using direct sequencing techniques. The data obtained were compared with those in the other high-GBC-prevalence countries. Of the 36 patients, 18 (50.0%) had a TP53 mutation (one mutation in each of 17 patients and three mutations in one patient), and only one (2.8%) had a K-ras mutation. Of the 20 TP53 mutations, 12 were of the transition type (60.0%). This rate was significantly lower than that in Chile (12/12, P<0.05). In addition, three mutations were of the CpG transition type (15.0%), which is a feature of endogenous mutation. All three were found in the hot spot region of the TP53 gene. In contrast, G:C to T:A transversion was found in Bolivia, suggesting the presence of exogenous carcinogens. Our findings suggest that the development of GBC in Bolivia is associated with both exogenous carcinogens and endogenous mechanisms. The identification of an environmental risk factor for GBC is needed to confirm these findings.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.301-308
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• 2009

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of FDG-PET/CT as follow up imaging tool in patients with endometrial cancer after therapy. Material and Methods: One hundred one patients with endometrial cancer who underwent FDG PET/CT after the treatment of this disease were included in this study population (25-79 yr old, Mean age 50.6 yr old) and all these patients also performed various laboratory and imaging studies such as serum tumor marker, CT or MRI. The lesions having increased focal FDG uptake were classified into benign, equivocal, and malignant one according to their pattern and activity. Tumor recurrence was confirmed by histopathological results and other clinical and imaging data. Results: Among the 19 patients with 30 malignant or equivocal hot uptakes, 11 of 14 patients supposed to be malignant finding in PET/CT were proved to be tumor recurrence, while one of 5 patients with equivocal lesions were recurred malignancy, Two false negative cases were turned out to be peritoneal carcinomatosis, Estimated sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of PET/CT for diagnosis of recurrence in endometrial carcinoma after treatment were 86 %, 92 % and 91 %, respectively. Positive and negative predictive values in the same issue were 63% and 98%, respectively. Conclusion: FDG-PET/CT is useful for regular work up of endometrial carcinoma after the treatment because of its high negative predictive value as well as high sensitivity and specificity.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.249-255
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• 2022

Alzheimer's disease (AD) represents a major public health concern and has been identified as a research priority. Clinical research evidence supports that the core cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for AD, including amyloid-β (Aβ42), total tau (T-tau), and phosphorylated tau (P-tau), reflect key elements of AD pathophysiology. Nevertheless, advances in the clinical identification of new indicators will be critical not only for the discovery of sensitive, specific, and reliable biomarkers of preclinical AD pathology, but also for the development of tests that facilitate the early detection and differential diagnosis of dementia and disease progression monitoring. The early detection of AD in its presymptomatic stages would represent a great opportunity for earlier therapeutic intervention. The chance of successful treatment would be increased since interventions would be performed before extensive synaptic damage and neuronal loss would have occurred. In this study, the importance of developing an early diagnostic method using cognitive decline biomarkers that can discriminate between normal, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD preclinical stages has been emphasized.